West Indies v England

[Spy Bee]

I never liked cricket much anyway.

[Ian Sea]

51 all out. I seriously thought we were on for our lowest total ever when it was 23/7 or whatever it was. Absolutely shambolic from England and there has to be changes for the next Test.

 

The main problem with England is this group of players think they are untouchable. They think they ARE England when they are not. In 20 years from now they will all be a distant memory but the England team will still be going.

 

We need to get a coach in ASAP and fuck all this shit about getting one who can work with the captain. The captain has to learn how to work with the coach as they have in the past. I'd love to see Nasser Hussain given the job, he'd be fucking ace. He wouldn't stand for any shit from Pietersen or Harmison or any of the other primadona muppets.

 

If KP is causing disharmony in the team (which he seems to be) then he should be fucked off and dropped altogether. I don't care how good he is, he's doing more harm than good in that team and it's wrong.

 

As for the others, some are just not good enough and need to be dropped; Cook, Bell, Collingwood, Harmisonand Monty would all go if it were up to me. Harmison is in the team to bowl quick but he's averaging 83mph. What's that all about? If he isn't bowling at 90mph+ then he shouldn't be plaing. It's a good job they are on tour and there's a limited squad to choose from or many of those players would have played their last games for a while.

 

For the next Test I'd drop Bell and get Shah in at 5 (with Pietersen and Collingwood moving up a place) and Harmison and Monty would go as well, replaced with Anderson and Swann. I don't expect many changes though, and I doubt Shah will get a chance; he never does.

[A_S]

Who would have thought that a 6'7 West Indian destroying a touring team with 8 wickets would be a left-arm orthodox spinner? You're right though, England need to get their shit sorted quick. I STILL believe England have a better squad overall, so i think that if they react properly to such a humiliating defeat, it should be a very interesting series.

[sir roger]

What a balls up today

Re-starting it on Sunday on an alternative pitch on Antigua.

 

Noticed however that on BBC when this was being discussed as a possibility this afternoon it was clearly stated that England had practiced on the other ground but it was ( particularly the outfield ) nowhere near test standard.

 

This has now disappeared off the site , but makes me wonder if the farce hasn't finished yet.

[Ian Sea]

That was a disgrace yesterday, I hope the ICC punish the West Indies Cricket Board. They should have come clean about the problems weeks ago so St John's could have been prepared earlier.

 

I feel sorry for those who have saved up a fortune to go over there only for the Test to be abandoned.

[Spy Bee]

What a balls up today

Re-starting it on Sunday on an alternative pitch on Antigua.

 

Noticed however that on BBC when this was being discussed as a possibility this afternoon it was clearly stated that England had practiced on the other ground but it was ( particularly the outfield ) nowhere near test standard.

 

This has now disappeared off the site , but makes me wonder if the farce hasn't finished yet.

Think that was inaccurate, it was in direc contrast to what had been said on BBC radio.

[paddyberger15]

What actually happened then chaps, I missed the whole thing yesterday, what with being busy and then taken unexpectedly pissed last night and I forgot all about it.

From what I can gather the outfield was like a beach and it was abandoned because it was deemed to be dangerous, is that right?

[sir roger]

What actually happened then chaps, I missed the whole thing yesterday, what with being busy and then taken unexpectedly pissed last night and I forgot all about it.

From what I can gather the outfield was like a beach and it was abandoned because it was deemed to be dangerous, is that right?

 

More or less NF

 

West Indies opening bowlers were bringing up sand from under the surface with every stride and ended up bowling @ 75% pace & the umpires called the match referee after 10 balls & decided to abandon for the day.

 

Subsequently decided to start on sunday on an alternative ground in Antigua

[paddyberger15]

More or less NF

 

West Indies opening bowlers were bringing up sand from under the surface with every stride and ended up bowling @ 75% pace & the umpires called the match referee after 10 balls & decided to abandon for the day.

 

Subsequently decided to start on sunday on an alternative ground in Antigua

 

Ah right, cheers SR, so the Bowlers run ups were a real problem then.

Is this a new ground that they are playing on, or is this the same test ground in Antigua that has just been renamed?

[sir roger]

Ah right, cheers SR, so the Bowlers run ups were a real problem then.

Is this a new ground that they are playing on, or is this the same test ground in Antigua that has just been renamed?

 

Said in the BBC blurb that it hadn't staged a test match since 2006 , so presumably it's the old one.

 

The new one was built for the World Cup I think.

[Catch22]

Great catch in the 20/20 from that Aussie fielder on the boundary ropes, throwing it in the air before falling out-of-bounds & re-catching.

[paddyberger15]

Said in the BBC blurb that it hadn't staged a test match since 2006 , so presumably it's the old one.

 

The new one was built for the World Cup I think.

 

Spot on SR, so it was. The Antigua Rec is the old test match venue, the Viv Richards Stadium is the one built for the World Cup.

England 58-0 at lunch having been put into bat.

[Vincent Vega]

Flicking between the Milan derby and the third test. It's great to see Owais Shah taking advantage of the chance he's been given, I've been boring anyone who'd listen that he should be in the team ahead of Bell. Now we need to see Rob Key get a go in place of Alistair Cook. Great knock by Strauss today, too.

 

Also, how cool is Chris Gayle? He just exudes and personifies coolness. Especially when he's swatting crap bowlers for six after six.

 

 

Edit: Just after singing his praises Shah gets himself run out.

[A_S]

Great catch in the 20/20 from that Aussie fielder on the boundary ropes, throwing it in the air before falling out-of-bounds & re-catching.

 

Brilliant moment, won us the match, it did. It gave them 6 more runs to chase plus removed the dangerous McCallum, who was flying at the time. We only won by a run still! Anyway, here it is:

 

YouTube - Unbelievable catch by Adam Voges On The Boundary Australia vs New Zealand, 15th Feb, 09

[Spy Bee]

It's here now

 

9RAW: Adam Voges' brilliant catch - ninemsn Video

[lifetime fan]

Flicking between the Milan derby and the third test. It's great to see Owais Shah taking advantage of the chance he's been given, I've been boring anyone who'd listen that he should be in the team ahead of Bell. Now we need to see Rob Key get a go in place of Alistair Cook. Great knock by Strauss today, too.

 

Also, how cool is Chris Gayle? He just exudes and personifies coolness. Especially when he's swatting crap bowlers for six after six.

 

 

Edit: Just after singing his praises Shah gets himself run out.

 

Shah is different class to Bell and should have been given a run out ages ago. Key is a county level flat track bully talked up by pals in the media. He'll never have the ability to make it as a test level batsman.

[Total Longo]

Pleased for collingwood, considering i said he should be nowhere near the test side. Excellent knock.

[Catch22]

What is Botham talking about? "England are too conservative in their declarations"

 

They lost the 2nd Ashes test in Adelaide from a completely commanding position by declaring too early which then led to the whole tour unravelling.

[paddyberger15]

What is Botham talking about? "England are too conservative in their declarations"

 

They lost the 2nd Ashes test in Adelaide from a completely commanding position by declaring too early which then led to the whole tour unravelling.

 

Botham talks an inordinate amount of shite.

[Dougie Do'ins]

Good to get a wicket, even if it was on a plate, but they all count.

[paddyberger15]

Good to get a wicket' date=' even if it was on a plate, but they all count.[/quote']

 

Key wicket that Mick, Gayle is the danger man.

Harmison is such an unintelligent bowler though. Its pretty obvious what the right length to bowl on that pitch is, just look how Pietersen and Flintoff were dismissed, so what does Harmy do? Bang it in consistently about 1/3 of the way down the pitch, when the rewards for bowling a fuller length are there for all to see. As soon as he pitches it up he gets the reward.

Our bowlers might be just a touch better than the WIndies bowlers as far as ability goes, but they beat us every time for game intelligence.

[Ian Sea]

Shah is different class to Bell and should have been given a run out ages ago. Key is a county level flat track bully talked up by pals in the media. He'll never have the ability to make it as a test level batsman.

 

Got to disagree with that. Key doesn't have the best Test match record but he has scored a double century so the talent is there. He'd be in my team any day. Since he last played for England he's lost weight (which is his biggest problem) and has improved in the One Day form of the game as well. I'd have him in my Test team either opening or at number 3, and he'd open in One Dayers for me. I think if he got a run in the team at this stage of his career then he'd do really well.

[Catch22]

Almost feel sorry for the ECB

 

They were so pleased to get themselves "with it" by doing a deal with Stanford & the bloke's been running a Ponzi scheme!

[Spy Bee]

Swann on a hatrick.

[Catch22]

Botham talks an inordinate amount of shite.

 

 

This is a wearing pitch which will only get worse.

It is extremely hot.

Flintoff & Harmy are struggling

 

That means you don't enforce the follow-on Beefy